Archived notes on Diamond Setting

From the Diamond Setting bench of “gerrylewy18@gmail.com”

Still more additional notes on…Diamond Setting!

(These are a compilation of more setting notes from 2005 A.D.) 

What is the minimum thickness of metal to bead set .01 pt. diamonds?

    Well from my experience the metal in question should be no thinner than .75 mm. The optimum thickness could be in the range of .8 – 1.0 mm. Why this range? It is because of the beading-raising tool should not go through the gold as it’s been created. The diamond still as to “have a seat” to be secure and the Culet should not show through the bottom.

What happens when you wish to solder and customer’s dirt is visible?

   Just do really two easy things, and that is to clean it in either the ultrasonic – cleaner or steam, but get it clean! If you go ahead and apply heat to all of the ‘grunge & dirt” that gets caked on and it’s pretty difficult under normal circumstances. You might have to soak it in lye overnight, or in a pickling agent for hours!

Ring Mandrel; with a groove?

   Ring mandrels are used for sizing rings now as well as bezel and for channel setting.

In the case of a bezel setting, this piece of equipment can be very helpful. It can free up one hand, get close to the work and see just where the hammer should hit. The ring as it’s been secured into the bench allows for a chance not to have you get tired out holding the ring. All of these little actions gives you a chance to do better work.

 Now why the groove? Glad you asked if, for some reason that the item you are working on has a protruding Culet, the ring will have no chance to have that Culet be damaged from the continuous hitting. You can also adjust the force of the hitting action to suit the pressure of your hammer. Yes, you might add that I have to turn the ring around continually, but the labour wasted, is far better than misjudging the ‘hits’. If you wish to use your Reciprocating Hammer, you again can still use your mandrel but you now can have a free hand to hold the stones securely. Even with hammering, check for the Culet exposure.

Are you wasting precious time? 

   Look for a peg-pad that has little spaces for your burs, lay them out in sequential order (larger to smaller). Why have them laid on your benchtop in total disarray? On my benchtop, I have seven bur-pads just for my different styles of burs…Round, Bud, 156C, and “77B” cup-burs. I don’t waste my time looking for one bur somewhere laying around my desktop!

The hand tools that I don’t need, are stored in my bench drawers, out of sight, kept away from my hands, not getting accidentally stabbed. As for my hand tools, all the separate gravers with their uses are kept with the same handle. Again, time-saving for easy retrieval at a seconds notice. For example; my “Flat graver #40” is always in my "wine-coloured" handle.

How can you clean your oil-stone? 

    First of all, remove as much of the oil that been sitting on the steel impregnated "India FB6" (8 inches in length, by 2 inches wide) with a cloth so the residue of tissue paper doesn’t remain for the next step. If you shop around at your convenience store, please purchase some lighter fluid and let a few drops settle on the stone. With your magnet just gently run it along the surface of the fluid, not on the stone. Why?

As you are running the magnet along the oil-stone, you will see the steel particles lift off from the lighter fluid. Interesting isn’t it? Wipe off the residue, pour more fluid again and repeat until you are satisfied with the cleanliness of the stone. If you are continually grinding your gravers on a soiled stone you are then “pushing” more particles INTO the stone at each draw of the graver.

Why is your ring slipping around the clamp?

Nothing so inherently dangerous as when you are doing some bead raising and you find that your ring is slipping around the tightened clamp. What would you do now, remove the leather ring pad and turn it around and glue again the leather to the wood? Hence a more secure and safe to work ring clamp.

Wipe off any residue glue and trim the leather to make sure both items are smooth to your touch. If you feel that the leather is too thin, replace with a thicker leather that can be bought from any “shoe-repair” store.

Plastic versus Wood ring clamps, which and why?

Every hand of any trades-person has the tendency to perspire. More or less the hand and the clamp have to breathe. If the clamp is plastic, there is no chance for the hand to give up the moisture while being built up. When the clamp is made of wood the clamp can now have a pleasant association. I find also that the wood is sometimes lighter to hold and not so tiring. Plastic is heavier in general, no transferring of moisture can ever be achieved. Hence, perspiring hands while you are working, not too pleasant is this?

Communication

   When two people are speaking and one of them is the trades-person there will a modicum of the difference of ideas and how the others perceive the “word”. Now let’s go two steps ahead and visualize the following scenario 1) Customer, 2) Store owner, 3) Staff, then the 4) Jeweller, 5) Setter. Each with their own interpretation of the facts. Time passes and the facts are now even been forgotten.

 The problem is that there are too many people are getting involved and the original idea is lost or misrepresented.

  This will lead to a complete communication breakdown of what the customer originally asked for. For example; 1.00 carat diamond in 18 kt. yellow, 4-claws will probably get 14kt yellow with an 18kt 6-claw head for a 1.00+ centre stone…duh? Loose, size 6 gets you size 6 ¼. Already you are getting my drift, so what do you do?

 Write down all of the instructions, pictures or copies of customer’s ideas and have their initials…everywhere.

   

A variety of Diamond Setting Tools

                                     Diamond Setting Tools!

 Files, Gravers, High-Speed Steel Burs, Micro-Motors, Carbide burs, Posture, Lights “Opti-Visor” (plus a few more interesting items)!

For every Diamond Setter, there are certain tools we all use. If these tools are not written or discussed, then the operator will surely find themselves wondering what has just happened? Poor quality will ensue and the blame will not be from their tools, but by their own sheer negligence.

  Let's first start on the list with “Files”, these implements normally will last for a few decades, as mine are now doing. These are not cheap, but over a course of many setting projects, they can pay for themselves in a few setting projects. Measure the file as the end of the tool sits comfortably into the palm of your hand and not extend further than then first joint of your middle finger. These are an “extension of your fingers & hand”...they are your new friends, treat them as such!

 I use only a Pillar file #2-cut, at 8 inches in length (or 20 cm’s). The next file is my Triangular file #4 cut with the same length. For convenience, I use a black-marker felt pen and paint the ‘grit number’ for easy retrieving. Either a “4” or “I I I I”.

 My most favourite setting tools are my two Onglette #1, #2 and lastly the Flat Graver #40. Without them, I couldn't masterfully execute the setting & engraving I succeed in creating. These are also costly in both time, money and maintenance. If I accidentally drop a graver into my metal bench, I will make sure the cutting edge hasn't been damaged or made unusable. I observe if they will be ready for immediate cutting! I will allow the graver-tip to touch my finger-nail, if it grips, then it's ready for use. I've been active in discussing these wonderfull tools all through this ongoing blog!

 The “High Speed Bur” is a misnomer, as it doesn't mean it has to be used at a high speed. It means that the steel is “Case-Hardened” in the production of this particular bur, these are one of the most expensive tools for any setter, but they are so well needed. These are very aggressive in their cutting, but they earn their cost many times. Carbide burs have their teeth quite close together and are very gentle in their cutting. H.S.S. burs teeth are further apart & cut metal quite easily & with little effort.

 The Micro-Motor is the most important machine that any setter has in his inventory of tools. My micro-motor is a desk-top, with a handle that has its own fan & motor. No further need of the pole to suspend any overhead motor, with this, you now have complete flexibility while in use. The result is, no hands being tired from the constant lifting and bending of that semi-movable, flex-shaft!

Poor posture, while sitting for long hours is your enemy, get up and walk around every half-hour. Find a chair that has a lower back "Lumbar" support, this is so very important. You can adjust your sitting height, back-rest even an arm-rest is important. Remember, you are now sitting in a comfortable position.

Lights are the most important feature at your bench, no matter if you are setting or fabricating jewellery, your eyes can get extremely tired. Remember this point, that each Fluorescent bulb pulsates at 16 cycles per second, you can’t see it this occurring, but your eyes can ‘pick up the pulses’. Get a 3-bulb outfit, as one bulb cancels out the two pulsating bulbs. Expensive for now, but so much easier on your delicate eyes in the long term.

"Optical-Visor" how strong should they be? I use only a #5 lens, or if needed, a #7. On a very rare occasion, I could use a #10, but that is too much of a strain for any ones delicate eyes for those long hours! Number #3 lens is not just strong enough for your delicate Diamond Setting.

 “Snap-On”, “Medium grit”, Emery (7/8 inch diameter) wheel/disks. Never leave home without any, far better than using your emery sticks, ouch! You can easily see just where the wheel is actually touching. You can rotate the wheel around for easier applications. When finished; THEN YOU CAN USE YOUR PUMICE WHEEL, afterwards!!

Pumice wheels are really my favourite kinds of cleaning tools. The grits being used are the #180 and the Pink coloured “1,000 grit”. Each comes in a Tapered & Flat-faced shapes, I don’t buy 6 of each, but I prefer to buy 50 of each shape and as well the grit…200 wheels. When they are partially worn down, I can use them to clean the inside of the rings.

 At this point, I hardly throw any of them away! BTW, I have additional wheel-mandrels on hand, then I’ll have new wheels & a few more semi-new!

Oil Stone; there is only one grade to buy and that is the “Fine India, FB6” (light brown colour) stone of 8 inches in length. For the first time in using it, soak this porous stone in oil overnight (in a narrow baking pan) and let it sit until the next day. Thus letting all of the oil seep into all of the pores of this “your new friend”, your new oil-stone.

 Lubricating oil: I use a "3 in 1" oil of light viscosity. I've discussed this topic in my previous essays.

Carbide burs: There are almost as many Carbide burs in existence, than the visible stars at night!

 I prefer to use only the basic selection; Round, Bud, Cup-shaped, 156C-(Undercutting), the letter “C” means Carbide! Jewellers might and will use other styles and shapes, but us, the setters can work with these and get so much accomplished with so few!

My range of Round burs starts with a #005, but usually start with the #006 Round. I have been using a Bud-shaped as a mini-file, just where the Triangular file just can’t reach. I suggest that you to explore just what these little “mini-files” can do while also preparing for the setting of stones. To give more uses of these burs can lead to many more essays.

10x Power Hand Loupes. This topic needs only a few words, show me a setter who hasn’t a few of them on his/her bench. I will use a 15xpower just for the close examination of a diamond, but generally, I prefer a wide lens of a 10x power, nothing else!

Elbow pads: Is this little pile of mini-wash clothes really necessary? Let me ask you one question if you don’t rest your elbow on your bench pan for many hours a day and after 5-8 years what’s going to happen? You ulnar nerve that sits inside your resting elbow will get inflamed. The nerves inside the channel in this area will subsequently get pinched and cause you nerve damage or even worse numbness in your finger-tips. Your decision!

Contact me at "gerrylewy18(at)gmail.com"

General Repairs for Diamond Setting

GENERAL  REPAIRS  FOR  DIAMOND - GEMSTONE  STONE  SETTING!

    This list of trouble-shooting repair duties are geared mainly for the jeweller who does the general form of basic setting repairs at their bench!

Although this essay was written about 15 years ago, it's good to rewrite this again for this useful blog and it's just for YOU!

1) For Centre stones, it is far better to just lower the diamond in the old setting than to retip with 4-6 new claw tips. Although the stone is somewhat lower in the head, it alleviates much of the stress of soldering new tips, by the jeweller.

2) For resetting bead-set diamonds, just be careful, that the metal is thick enough to sink down the diamond into the metal. The absolute minimum should be for .01 - .03 pointers is 0.75 millimeters.

3) For multi-diamond cluster rings. Re-align all of the claws, then check for stone security.

4) Before accepting and items for repairs, examine for wear on the supporting gallery, is the jewellery item worth the effort? How long will it last for?  It can be "a ring from Hades?"

5) My motto is: "once you start working on it, fix it, finish it & get rid of it! Do it so it won't burden your time and haunt you later.

6) For bezel work, it’s far easier to make a new bezel, for the original stone than to waste your time with the worn and abused frame. The finished results will be more gratifying to you and the customer. Not to mention how much happier the client will be...and of course YOU!!!

7) I won't want to choose to re-setting a centre diamond. At times it is necessity to reset the diamond in a new "head", then to re-tip & it looks much cleaner. The decision is up to you, as you are the jeweller!

8) Don't use solder to retip. Use gold tips, or you will be troubled by discolouration of the solder at the joint of the two metals. Make the finishing of the claws very clean looking. Always leave the job clean so while you are polishing your item, you won’t have to waste precious time.

9) If the customer asks, "can you fix this setting?" Never say, “I'll try” and have you marry the ring from Hades. This customer may turn out to be one of the most excruciating clients you might ever want to meet. If your gut feeling is to say "don't do it" then say it! Look at the grief you just saved yourself! (I can speak from experience!)

  10) If you have to remove a stone from the bezel, BREAK OUT THE SYNTHETIC STONE!

  It’s easier to buy a new stone than to ruin the mount and start re-building a ring.

 This can happen at any time.

11) Check out the settings and its stones, place the whole item into a sieve or a lid-covered tea strainer and place it into a sonic-cleaner for 10 minutes. Then steam it out afterwards. How many stones are loose or have fallen out? Better there than at your bench or at the polishing machine.

Remember when your metal expands due to soldering. Your stones might get loose!

12) As a Diamond Setter, it is my job on many occasions, not too start the job for the impending doom that might befall the enclosed diamond or genuine stone. If the diamond is  heavily included, Emerald, Opal, or any other kind of gem-stone, is in a rather dangerous condition, it is my responsibility to advise the client immediately, if not sooner!

13) If your jewellers are setting pave', be very careful on making sure that the metal is thick enough to take the necessary diamonds. I once had to set .003 pts in metal that was only .04 mm's in thickness.

14) Where there are genuine stones, remove them from the setting, under no instances should you attempt the soldering process, where there are Emeralds, Opals, Turquoise, Coral or any soft stone. Don't tell me that you are sure you won't break or burn them. YOU WILL!  If you persist, you will be looking for another stone to replace the one you just burned,  trust me!

15) When setting centre stones. Please make sure that ALL the claws are pre-polished, once the diamond is in, no way can you polish the new head after it's been finished.

16) When there is a loose diamond, that is in the ring and ready to give to the client. I always secure the loose stone with a little "wire-bead". Do not hammer after, or press-over the claws again. You might have to re-polish the mount, I even use this method in a bezel-setting. Just a securing method that works all the time.

17) When breaking out CZ's the stones explode when breaking apart! Please wear glasses. I said this before, Please wear glasses! I've seen too many setters with splinters in their eyes over this procedure. I took one fellow to the hospital with this problem! Why do they explode? These stones are set into wax under great pressure and the wax retains that stress on these stones. Only at this stage of removal will they endanger yourself.

 So when these old stones are ready to be removed, please be 'very eye-careful'! My glasses form-fit my face and my only two eyes that I have been given since birth!..:>)

What is a Diamond Setter?

Some of Gerry’s Personal Notes and Observations!!!

What is a Diamond Setter?  He is a skilled craftsperson who is aware of the following disciplines. The composition of alloys, use of levers, the tension of metals, use of fulcrums, the density of various working metals. He should have some working knowledge of soldering principles uses of abrasive compounds, Plating procedures and designing. Along with this, he is cognizant of the following topics with gemology, the study of crystals, porous materials in casting, knowledge of gemstones and their inherent hardness (Mohs Scale), load-bearing limits on Diamonds and uses of abrasive materials. Did I say our job is easy?

He should be aware of polishing techniques, how to enhance his own creations. A Diamond Setter is a designer, artist, creator of “Objects Des Arte”. A setter should not be in this trade just for the dollars, although important. He must have a true understanding of what he is making. His labours will on the most part last longer than him or her, and those items that he is working on will definitely be passed down to other generations. Once he understands this, he then is called a very skilled craftsman. In this craft, we get “instant gratification” we see in a few minutes from the results of all our labours.

It is the setter who can transform a simple ring made of Gold/Platinum into a “Piece of Art”, what many people will gladly pay top dollar for. WE are one of the persons who sometimes meet the actual wearer and hear of the kind words of praise. On any occasions, I have seen a round disk with drilled holes in a row and after 4 hours of labour transform this disk into a “Rolex” styled watch-bezel worth thousands of dollars retail. Not to also mention setting diamonds into a Cartier watch frame, with the same exacting quality. The very same instances drill over 300 holes into a Patek-Philippe watch bracelet and have this same item be worn in tandem with a thousand-dollar watch.

  During the past 150 years our tools of our trade has progressed from a bow-activated hand-drill to the electric flex-shaft motor.

  We have also progressed from Bezel Setting all diamonds to bead setting these stones and now using CAD, aka “Computer-Aided Designing”. A few decades ago, “wax setting” came into being, it has transformed much of our labour intensive setting into setting these stones into a wax mount.

 In these early years of learning the trade, he should have a mentor who will guide him through the many different avenues of setting. I had such a mentor.

He explained all the subtle nuances of bead-setting, Pave’ Setting, ”Cut-Down” and

“Fish-Tail” setting, Princess and Baguette settings. Many of his fantastic techniques were passed onto me. I added many of his ideas and ventured onward to the realm of teaching.

Diamonds also have changed in the past decades, from the “Rose-Cut” shape to “Swiss-Cut” and to the popular “Brilliant” cut. Along with these numerous shapes, jewellery designs have also changed.

 We, the craftsmen, have to change and create new methods in Diamond Setting to adjust to these new and more modern patterns. If we won’t change, we will be left behind.  Experience in setting is based upon past challenges!

Experience from the past gives the setter a new road to tread and he then turns this piece of gold into a piece of art. He has to have the feel of creating something of value.

When to make a single cut or a double Migraine line cutting. When the setter has one bead out of place, it might ruin the whole effect of what we are trying to achieve. “Bright-Cutting” is that alone…“Bright”, with no interruption of the surfaces in the continuous cut. This method took me about 2-3 years to master bringing in new methods even of polishing the gravers.

 

 Many of my “blog-pictures” show how I do the actual gem-stone setting. These words are my personal experiences and while at the setting bench.

You may email me at "gerrylewy18(at)gmail.com"